Portland banking startup Simple Finance Technology Corp. closed its $117 million sale to Spanish bank BBVA on Thursday and announced plans to double its work force this year – adding more than 100 Portland employees.

“We will more than double this year,” said Simple spokeswoman Krista Berlincourt. The company currently has 10 job categories posted on its website, seeking software engineers, accountants and customer relations specialists.

“It’s everything,” Berlincourt said. “You name it, we got it.”

Simple offers online banking services with an interface optimized for smartphones. It encourages clients to budget and save by setting goals and tracking their spending in real time.

The company had won great attention in the tech industry but its growth had been slow by Internet standards, which BBVA said was in part due to Simple's limited funding. With the new owner's additional resources, Simple is now picking up the pace.

Last month, Simple hired a new “people operations” director, Lindsay Wolff Logsdon, to help manage the company’s hiring. She previously worked in the same field for fast-growing San Francisco mobile payments startup Square, and Berlincourt said an experienced human resources director will help Simple manage its growth.

One thing that can’t handle the growth: Simple’s current Pearl District offices. The company is shopping for larger quarters and is looking to stay in the Pearl, Berlincourt said.

She said the company will seek new quarters to replicate its current environment, which mixes departments in a communal space.

“We don’t do little offices. We’re all in a mass loft,” Berlincourt said. “That’s all by design, so you’re involved in what’s happening.”